Winners of the 2024 Prime 53 Poem
Summer Challenge
The total line count of a Prime 53 Poem is a prime number (11), the syllable count in each line of the three, three-line stanzas are prime numbers (7 / 5 / 3) and each line of the last two-line stanza are prime number (5 / 3), making the poem’s total syllable count a prime number (53). The Prime 53 Poem also requires a rhyme pattern of a/b/a; c/d/c; e/f/e; g/g.
Press 53 Poetry Editor, Christopher Forrest, one of the creators of the Prime 53 Poem, served as the judge for the 2024 competition. This was a free contest, open to writers around the world, and from the hundreds of Prime 53 Poems we received, Chris selected the following four for publication:
“A Questioning Key of Hallelujah” by Maia Brown-Jackson
“Slow Burn” by Mackenzie Davis
Maia Brown-Jackson
A Questioning Key of Hallelujah
Sing me a questioning key
of hallelujah
and hear me
cry it back, seeking answers
in a sharp chord, while
the clamor
beyond our walls raises new
questions, and I find
I want to
know their unholy
ecstasy—
~ ~ ~
After the incredibly practical literature degree from the University of Chicago, Maia Brown-Jackson braved the myriad esoteric jobs that follow, until straying to Iraq to volunteer with survivors of ISIS genocide. Inspired with new focus, she caffeinated herself through a graduate degree in terrorism and human rights and now investigates fraud, waste, and abuse of humanitarian aid in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Also, she writes, including the chapbook And My Blood Sang and various journals and anthologies you can find at maiabrown-jacksonwriting.com
Mackenzie Davis
Slow Burn
I wept at the eulogy,
counted a trill of
chickadees
after the rain stopped. Someone
asked for pie, and I
sat, undone,
full until I was broke.
Time smells like pine trees
and smoke,
the long dark cracking
with morning.
~ ~ ~
Mackenzie Davis finds her greatest inspiration in creative restriction, whether it be through form, thought, or circumstance. Her work is often contemplative, a tad whimsical, and always striving toward subtle and undiscovered truth. Davis holds a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Colorado Denver.
Chris Faunce
Professions (Shortlist)
I know a future doctor,
a ton of cashiers,
some lawyers.
I’ve met a few engineers,
a dozen nurses.
I’ve lived near
people who’ve turned their hobby
into full-time jobs.
They are the
happiest sad folks
I have known.
~ ~ ~
Chris Faunce is a writer from Pennsylvania. He graduated from Drexel University in 2023 with a degree in Civil Engineering. His poems have appeared in South Florida Poetry Journal, The Shore, Philadelphia Stories, and elsewhere.
Caesar Kinnier Lastimosa
Oral Tradition
Pray this gold sizzling garlic
and quiver of rice
will mimic
the luster and sweet fragrance
of Mom’s. I’d offer
as penance
(but not utter) sinangag—
fluent in flavors,
not the tongue—
if I could atone
with a spoon.
~ ~ ~
Caesar Kinnier Lastimosa works as an attorney in Chicago, specializing in insurance coverage. A first-generation Filipino-American, Kinnier grew up in Irving, Texas, and earned a Bachelor of Arts as a Creative Writing Major at Northwestern University before completing his law degree at Washington University in St. Louis. He enjoys running marathons and traveling with his wife, often with their travel mascots, two plush pachyderms that were gifts to each other in college.